Amplified Explosions At Bluegrass Army Depot Alarm Neighbors

Residents of Madison County heard a disturbing wake-up call Thursday morning. They heard explosions coming from the Blue Grass Army Depot. It was a typical summertime detonation of obsolete munitions at the Madison County Army installation. But what wasn’t typical, says Depot Public Affairs Officer Mark Henry, was the number of calls from worried neighbors.

“One of those calls was from a lady at Berea Municipal Utilities. She was calling because their office had been receiving multiple calls,” said Henry.

Henry says officials at the local Emergency Management office also took a higher than usual number of calls. The Army spokesman says they followed all the required procedures, but perhaps weather conditions amplified the sound.

“Everything was performed normally at the depot. And I think, if we have any understanding of it, our best guess is that it had to do with those particular factors of wind, and humidity, and air speed and the bedrock on which the blast, the particular pit was sitting on,” added Henry.

Henry says they were destroying obsolete conventional munitions like land mines, bombs, and bullets. If they did any property damage, he says homeowners can seek compensation.

“There is a route to reparations if they wish to go that route. We can provide them the forms to file a claim and hopefully get some payment for any damages that are done,” explained Henry.

Henry says the Blue Grass Depot has detonated old weaponry for 70 years. He says the blasts will continue throughout the summer and into early fall.